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TOKYO (Reuters) - A strong earthquake jolted northern Japan early on Thursday, injuring at least 76 people, trapping hundreds in halted trains and temporarily cutting off electric power to thousands of homes.

EL NARANJO, Guatemala (Reuters) - Tighter border security and a broken-down rail line on Mexico's southern frontier are prompting thousands of U.S.-bound illegal immigrants to head north through thick jungles controlled by violent drug gangs.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The African Union said on Wednesday it was incapable of stabilizing the situation in Somalia and urged the United Nations take over peacekeeping operations in the lawless Horn of Africa country.

WARSAW (Reuters) - Polish and U.S. negotiators have made progress on technical details of installing a controversial missile shield in Poland, the PAP state news agency quoted Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski on Wednesday as saying.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon on Wednesday sought to play down the seriousness of growing violence in Afghanistan but declined to say the United States and NATO were winning their fight against Taliban insurgents.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission will propose forcing U.S. diplomats to get visas to travel to the European Union from January 2009 unless Washington moves toward granting citizens of all EU states visa-free entry.

BERLIN (Reuters) - German police detained a motorist on Wednesday who crashed through barricades set up at monument where Barack Obama will hold a speech on Thursday and dumped red paint from his speeding car.

DAKAR (Reuters) - Senegal lifted the last constitutional obstacle to its courts trying former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre for human rights crimes, the Senegalese Minister of Justice said on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department on Wednesday canceled plans to meet three Syrians making a private visit to Washington and gave no detailed explanation of its abrupt reversal.

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden's driver overheard the al Qaeda leader saying he was happy about the death toll in the September 11 attacks and thought the hijacked plane that crashed in Pennsylvania was shot down, according to one of the driver's interrogators.

SDEROT, Israel (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama assured Israel and its U.S. Jewish supporters on Wednesday he was a friend who would not press for peace concessions that would compromise its security.

MINSK (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez vowed on Wednesday to work with Belarus, an ex-Soviet state long at odds with Washington, to defeat "hegemonistic" U.S. imperialism.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev hit out on Wednesday at the corrupt sale of official jobs, saying it was an "outrageous" practice that discredited the state and held back Russia's development.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After months of secrecy and intrigue, presidential rivals Barack Obama and John McCain are almost ready to unveil the winners in the vice presidential sweepstakes.

TOKYO (Reuters) - A strong earthquake jolted northern Japan early on Thursday, injuring several people, burying three cars under a landslide and cutting off electric power to at least 10,000 homes, media reports and officials said.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan said on Wednesday it would neither allow Islamist militants to plot attacks on its soil nor let foreign troops take military action on its territory.

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel is an admirer of U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama -- even though she has not yet met him in person.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives passed a massive housing rescue bill on Wednesday while the White House dropped a threat to veto it, paving the way for measures aimed at shoring up the worst U.S. housing market since the Great Depression.

SDEROT, Israel (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Wednesday a nuclear Iran would pose a "grave threat" and that the world must stop Tehran from obtaining an atomic weapon.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush will sign into law a housing rescue package, despite objections about a provision to provide grants to communities to buy and repair foreclosed homes, because the legislation was needed promptly to address the crisis, the White House said on Wednesday.